Elizabeth Taylor in England
Elizabeth Taylor is experiencing a very orchestrated childhood because her mother was a former stage actress and she believes Elizabeth Taylor has that special something. Elizabeth Taylor endures marathon training in perfection. She even learns how to laugh, both a shy giggle and a broad laugh. She learns to sing and dance at the age of two.
Elizabeth Taylor's father Francis is an art dealer in a family business. They rent a big house called Heathwood and live very large as Americans in England with a maid, nurse, cook and driver.
Elizabeth Taylor is a stunning young baby, with double lashes and lavender-blue eyes which appear violet in a certain light.
Elizabeth Taylor's memories of her English childhood are idyllic. She learns to ride her own horse and retrospectively enjoys not being famous.
But then World War II looms in Europe and the American Embassy encourages Americans to return home. So in 1939 the Taylor family moves to Los Angeles, California.
The World's Most Popular Personality
Inspired by the recent success of Shirley Temple in The Little Princess, Sara intends to make Elizabeth Taylor a star. Elizabeth Taylor is excited at first but soon loses enthusiasm. Child stars don't seem too happy she notices. She fails an audition with Hedda Harper but her momager Sara finagles a contract with Universal Studios for $100 a week. She smiles for the camera but she misses her horse.
The depression is raging, but Hollywood barely seems to notice.
My God! What a wicked woman you are!
Richard Jenkins in Wales
Richard Jenkins comes from a large coal mining family (6 brothers and four sister) in Pontrhydyfen Wales. His father is an alcoholic ("My father would never say he drank a lot. He'd say he was a man of vast drinking habits") and his mother dies when he is 2 years old. He is raised by his older sister Cecilia whom he adores.
You're not man enough!
He speaks Welch until he is 6 years old, starts smoking at 8, drinking at 11 and dating at 15. He had cystic acne which leaves his face pockmarked.
His childhood is remarkably unphotographed.
The Poem
Unlike the Judys and the Mikeys
I am tall and deep. In every way
you can see anyway. I'm a myth,
a clear wind blowing
in the mines and through the lots.
The clouds are far behind me
and time goes by slowly through the wheel,
like axes picking through the caves,
reels turning in dark movie houses.
My mother moves us through
then disappears. I am a horse
across the green blur. Birds fly
over the bridge and through the rain
and turn into aeroplanes.
The depression hits Welch communities hard:
"Wales was among the world's most depressed countries. While unemployment was at its most extreme in coal mining..." (BBC History).
Cecilia adores her little brother but Cecilia's husband Elfred resents the care Cecilia lavishes on Richard Jenkins. The two boys spared frequently. From a young age he loves to perform sermons and recitations with his deep baritone voice. Elfred is not impressed.
